Crossing That Line
by FayeValentine00
Summary: Natsu and Lucy have skirted around the topic of romance for years and neither knew how to cross that bridge. A night of drunken snuggling gets the ball rolling and soon, their true feelings can no longer be denied.


Crossing That Line

By: juvia0613 (FayeValentine00)

* * *

"Natsuuuu… Take me homeeeeeee!" Lucy purred, clinging to the flustered Dragon Slayer's arm.

It had been a particularly long week, and they'd spent the whole night drinking with friends at the guild. Everything had been fine until Cana challenged Lucy to out-drink Gajeel and, for some reason, she'd agreed. Now he was half dragging, half carrying the Celestial Spirit Wizard through Magnolia

"Have a little too much fun tonight, Lucy?" the fisherman teased from their boat as the duo walked along the river. Natsu thought about singeing the boat but stopped himself when Lucy laughed loudly.

"Lucy…" With a sigh, the Dragon Slayer tossed the still laughing woman over his shoulder and dashed up the stairs and into the apartment before she could disturb the neighbors.

After kicking the door closed, Natsu crossed the room and dumped his best friend unceremoniously on to her bed. Somehow, she fell awkwardly, and her entire skirt flipped up, exposing ridiculously tiny panties that hardly covered a thing. If he hadn't already seen it all before, he would have been flustered. As it was, he climbed up on to the bed and pulled her skirt back down. If she'd been sober, he would have teased her mercilessly, but taking advantage of the situation now would have been wrong.

If Lucy Heartfilia knew exactly how often she got under his skin, it would be a problem. She was beautiful and she knew it. She was also fun and the best possible (human) partner a person could ask for. He had fallen for her in his own way a long time ago, but he didn't want to ruin what they had.

"Natsuuuu... Will you sleep with me?" Her voice was a whine as she drunkenly rolled over, yanking him down onto his back, draping an arm across his chest and a leg across his groin. When she wasn't comfortable enough, she tugged his arm back behind her head and used it like a pillow.

So, there was Natsu, laying in Lucy's bed (not uncommon) ... with a drunk Lucy (somewhat less common) … who was sprawled over him looking more provocative than she intended (extremely uncommon) ... and now the Dragon Slayer found himself fighting the urge to kiss her. To be clear, he wouldn't... at least not like this, but with her face so close and her body so tightly clinging to his, the urge was there.

"I love you, Natsu," she sighed, mostly talking in her sleep, squeezing him a little tighter.

"Yeah. Love you too, Luce," he murmured back, sure she wouldn't hear.

"I wish you did." That last part was so mumbled that Natsu almost couldn't make it out, but he did and his face grew hot. He opened his mouth to ask if she was awake, but when he glanced over, he could see he'd missed his chance. She was dead to the world.

It ended up being a particularly long, extremely frustrating sleepless night for the Fire Dragon Slayer.

* * *

For the next few days, Lucy's words tormented him. He knew she'd been drunk and half asleep, but the words had ignited the smallest ember of hope and, try as he might, he couldn't extinguish it.

It was nearly a week later when Lucy caught him by the arm and pulled him aside just as their team was headed into the guildhall. He turned to see what was wrong and noticed her shift nervously. "Hey... can we t-talk for a minute?"

Natsu saw the blush creep into Lucy's cheeks and warning alarms went off in his head.

DANGER, DANGER.

Something important was about to happen, he could feel it, but Natsu wasn't sure if he was ready. His fear of losing what they had was nearly overwhelming. Yet, seeing the serious expression on her face, he couldn't deny her. After the slightest hesitation, he nodded. "Uh, sure."

Gray and Erza noticed the exchange, looked at each other knowingly and then the Ice Devil Slayer gave the couple the out they needed. "It's really loud inside. Why don't you guys go for a walk? We'll meet up with you later."

Without even waiting for a reply, they headed inside, leaving Natsu and Lucy by themselves. Natsu forced a smile to his face, pretending like he didn't sense the obvious tension in the air. They walked down the road, vaguely headed towards Lucy's apartment. Neither of them spoke for a long time, leaving an awkward silence, so different from their usual banter. Finally, when they reached the river, Lucy caved.

"UGHHHH!" The blonde-haired woman groaned loudly and then, right in the middle of the street, turned to Natsu. Her face was bright red, but she met his eyes evenly. "Did I say anything weird the other night?!"

Because of her nerves, she flung the words at him like an accusation. She hated the way it'd come out but anxiety was making her crazy.

"Weird, how?" Natsu responded in a slow, careful tone, trying desperately to keep his voice even. He failed.

"OH MY GOD! ... Natsu, what did I say?" Her question was a whisper after the outburst.

"It's nothing, Lucy. Don't worry about it," he answered coolly, turning to walk away. He rationalized that if she was that upset about it, she'd couldn't have meant the words. Now he just wanted to move along before his disappointment could set in.

As he walked back toward the guild, he realized Lucy wasn't following. From his peripheral vision, he could see her watching him, the obvious confliction in her expression was painful. He wanted to go back and somehow smooth things over, but he couldn't. He just needed to go for a little while and pull himself together. He could feel his hands begin to tremble and he'd rather die than let her see how affected he was.

Natsu was halfway down the road when he heard her words. Lucy has said them quietly, but they both knew he'd catch it with his Dragon Slayer hearing.

"I meant it…"

That stopped Natsu in his tracks, but he didn't turn around. She couldn't possibly mean what he wanted her to mean… what he _needed_ her to mean.

"I really do wish you loved me." He heard Lucy's voice crack slightly and he could feel her tears coming, even without seeing her face. Then the Celestial Spirit mage turned towards her apartment and walked away. Away from the conversation? Away from the emotions? Away from him?!

It only took a few seconds for Natsu to understand that he couldn't leave things the way they were. He had to know where they stood. He had to know if this... _thing _between them would lead anywhere. With a frustrated groan, the Dragon Slayer ran his hands roughly through his hair and over his face. He could do this! He absolutely could do this! With that little pep talk, Natsu took off towards Lucy at a run.

He caught up to her in no time at all, catching her arm and spinning her around. He could see unshed tears in her big brown eyes. "Lucy, wait!"

"It's okay. Don't pity me, Natsu. I'll be fine. Just give me a minute, okay?" Then, despite her best efforts, a small whimper escaped her throat and the unshed tears rolled down her face. That broke the last of his restraint.

"You don't understand anything, Lucy!" Reaching out, Natsu took her by the head, letting his fingers tangle into her long blonde hair, and drew her close. He pressed his lips to hers firmly. It was a statement. He loved her and he'd fight anyone who said different.

Lucy's entire body tensed when their lips met. She didn't know how to process what was happening. She'd just convinced herself that Natsu had rejected her and now she was being kissed! Slowly she melted into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his middle, pulling him closer. Realizing she'd finally gotten what she'd wanted practically since the day they'd met in Hargeon, Lucy didn't dare let him move away now.

It was early in the evening so there were many people walking through town. Since Natsu and Lucy were fairly famous in town, as was their more than friends, less than lovers relationship, the attention they got was intense, but the couple was too lost in the moment to care. It wasn't until they finally came up for air that they realized they had an audience. Natsu and Lucy flushed, met each other's eyes and then broke into conspiratorial giggles.

"Let's go home," Lucy whispered, taking Natsu's hand and pulling him down the road and towards their new relationship.


End file.
